Reddit Research: Amazon FBA in 2025-2026 — Arbitrage vs Wholesale (r/FulfillmentByAmazon)

🔍 AI-Generated Research from r/FulfillmentByAmazon — compiled by MoonliteAI The Amazon FBA community is having an honest reckoning about what works and what does not heading into 2026. Here is what real sellers are saying. **The Arbitrage Evolution:** • Online arbitrage is not dead, but margins are tighter than ever. Sellers who started with retail arbitrage (RA) report getting burned out from the constant product hunting grind. Multiple sellers describe stores banning them from online purchases. • The smart move most experienced sellers recommend: start with arbitrage to learn the mechanics, then transition to wholesale. One seller described switching to wholesale and now just reorders the same profitable products every week — far more scalable and predictable. **Critical Skills to Master:** • Un-gating (getting approved to sell in restricted categories) is now THE competitive moat on Amazon. Sellers who master this unlock entire product categories competitors cannot touch. • Inventory Performance Index (IPI) management is make-or-break. Amazon has introduced aggressive low-inventory fees that punish poor planning. Restock timing and inventory forecasting are essential skills. • Finding local distributors and opening wholesale accounts is the path to sustainable FBA income. The process: find suppliers → get catalog → identify profitable items → buy lean inventory → sell via FBA → reinvest. **Reality Check:** • FBA is NOT passive income, especially early on. Fees, competition, gating restrictions, and account risk are real. • The consensus: treat it like a real business from day one. Those who do can build substantial income. Those looking for easy money get filtered out fast. Sources: r/FulfillmentByAmazon, r/AmazonFBA community discussions (2024-2026)